Hi!
I’m Jonathan Halama, the developer of Penumbra!
Penumbra, a watershed-scale solar transmittance model, which calculates the ground-level incident solar irradiance at varying timescales and across a spatially distributed grid. The model includes effects of local and distant topological shading, canopy vegetation or object shading, and influence of cloud coverage. Spatially resolved inputs of digital elevation, land use classification, and/or Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) as well as daily percent cloud coverage data can be used as inputs that subsequently generate solar irradiance maps at resolutions ranging from one minute to one day. The spatial resolution and extent of these maps are dictated by the resolution and extent of the input elevation map, or DEM.
Overall, Penumbra is a dynamic, spatially explicit ground-level solar transmittance model that can be used as a stand-alone tool to produce maps of incident irradiance and shade percentage or in combination with watershed-scale models to calculate subsequent radiation influences on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems to inform on their health and resilience.
Penumbra was developed to fill the ecological scientific need of watershed scale ecosystem modelers to understand the complex dynamics of solar energy. Penumbra was also the prime focus of my dissertation while earning my PhD of Environmental Science from Oregon State University (anticipated Dec 2016).
The Penumbra logo was created by the talented and wonderful artist Kylee Halama, my Wife and greatest friend.
Thanks,
Jonathan
Penumbra 